Mali: Der Kampf der Tuareg and the fall of Timbuktu and Gao

This is a brief "heads up" post about the fight of the Tuareg for an independent state (Azawad) in the Sahel.  You may have already read news articles about the takeover of the historic cities of Timbuktu (Tomboctou) and Gao in northern Mali by Tuareg militias.  Just yesterday various news agencies were reporting about the wanton destruction of centuries-old historical mosques, mausoleums and sacred tombs, along with the theft of irreplaceable Medieval Islamic books, scripts, and historical documents by an alarmingly increasing number of radical Islamist militants and thieves who have swept into Timbuktu and Gao in the wake of the security vacum created by the March 22nd coup.  I would hope that some of my fellow blog authors, friends and readers around the blogosphere will stay on top of this catastrophe taking place in what was once one of West Africa's stable democracies.

The above video clip is the German language version of a documentary program ARTE Reportage "Mali: Der Kampf der Tuareg" which aired last week on the French/German cultural TV network ARTE TV. This excellent documentary examines the situation in Timbuktu and across northern Mali just weeks before the rape and pillage of the cities of Timbuktu and Gao.  It features interviews with leaders of the Tuareg militias and the MLNA.  What is also interesting are the various scenes showing how the Salafist network Ansar Dine and AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) is grabbing control of the vast desert region in northern Mali (about the size of Spain) and setting up thier base and training camps.  There is not a sign of Mali government soldiers, ECOWAS military observers, African Union troops, US Army and Marines, or CIA operatives within 500 miles of the place (albeit the CIA is definately in the neighborhood, no doubt about it).

I am posting this information today because the ARTE TV video program will only be available online for a limited time.  The cable/satellite TV program is scheduled to air again on Saturday, July 6th at 10:30 A.M. CET.  Unfortunately for my readers living outside of Europe the ARTE TV programs are available only in France and Germany__ but the program videos and text info on their website may be accessable from abroad.  Nonetheless, it is a don't miss opportunity to learn about another side of this long-running conflict between the nomadic Tuareg and black African tribes (i.e. the Songhai people) who have settled in northern Mali for centuries vs. the government and people living in the south of the country at Bamako.

It's a very different Mali that we see today on our TV and computer screens in comparison to the wonderful and proud country celebrating 50 years of independence depicted in this great interactive video program on the ARTE TV website just two years ago.

More to come after I find the time to compose, edit, and publish what I have on the subject (as usual, I have plenty of info about this subject), including how this story ties in with recent testimony by the commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Washington D.C. last month.

Nice to be back with my fans and readers at Jewels in the Jungle if only briefly after such a long, long break.

The ICC vs Sudanese President Omar al Bashir: the beginning of the beginning of the end to what?

As I bring my work at Jewels in the Jungle to a close this year, I never thought that I would be writing about the crisis in Darfur again. Ashamedly I belong to the millions of people around the world that have practically given up on a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Sudan’s western province. When I first started this blog back in 2004, peace in Sudan and the atrocities against innocent civilians in Darfur were themes that I tried to address again and again. But Darfur was too complex for many of us bloggers who at that time had little knowledge of the background to the long-running wars and atrocities that have plagued this African country since its independence in 1956. It was a subject better left to the experts, scholars, diplomats, and foreign correspondents of the world, many who have devoted their professional careers and lives to the study and resolution of such conflicts.

Two things happened last week that compelled me to want to speak out once again.

First, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo submitted his long-awaited criminal indictment against the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, requesting a warrant from the court’s judges for Bashir’s arrest. Of course such a request caused all Hell to break loose from the UN headquarters in New York City to the African Union and Arab League headquarters on the other side of the globe, as world leaders responded publicly in (feigned) shock to an indictment that they all knew was coming.

When the ICC Prosecutor’s indictment was read in public carried by news networks around the world, the people in the IDP camps of Darfur and Chad sent up cheers and hoots of joy that perhaps finally something was being done on their behalf to relieve the misery and suffering they have endured for over 5 years now. I certainly cheered while watching Mr. Moreno-Ocampo read the indictment summary at his press conference, backed by a black African female member of his very competent legal staff. The symbolism of that black & white duo in the press conference was very powerful and not lost on those of us who are even somewhat familiar with the complex ethnic and racial background to this abominable crisis.

I can imagine that the ICC prosecutor’s office is seeking international support for his move against al-Bashir and I want to say hear and now that I support this move by the honorable Mr. Moreno-Ocampo 150%. As a matter of fact I consider his action to be heroic in a world that has become increasingly cynical and downright despondent over the situation in Darfur and Abyei and all of the Sudan.

A second thing that occurred last week to help motivate me to write once again about this important subject is that my friend the editor-in-chief of the African Loft asked me to contribute to an online debate about the ICC indictment against the Sudanese president. The debate has only a dozen or so comments to date but it is quite civil and hopefully informative for all participants, and we have been joined by the Sudanese blogger Kizzie (I Have No Tribe, I’m Sudanese), a colleague and friend of the very popular blogger Drima of The Sudanese Thinker and editor for Sudan news at Global Voices Online. The debate at African Loft includes an interesting and civil exchange of opposing views on the ICC indictment between the honorable Mr. Oscar Blayton (a Washington DC area attorney) and “moi” (BRE).

So as I have stated the crisis in Darfur and the ICC indictment against Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is very serious business, indeed. As I have always wished that this blog be a place of learning and sharing of ideas and opinions I shall waste no more of your valuable time with my own words. Below is a roundup of select news articles and reports about the ICC charges, the fallout over these charges against a standing head of state, and where all of this may be heading not only for the people of Darfur and all of Sudan, but for the whole damn(ed) world.


Jewels in the Jungle Global News Roundup for July 21, 2008
The International Criminal Court vs. Africa’s Top Dictator and Mass Murderer: Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir

The Sudan Tribune
The Accused One’s Profile by Ahmed Elzobier – 07/21/08
Note: this is one of the best ever editorials I have read at this independent Sudan-in-exile (Paris, I think) news site. Here is an excerpt from the witty Mr. Elzobier:

The accused one’s profile: “He is kind and generous, a true Sudanese coming from a poor family”, says one of his government officials. However, we also know that human nature is not innately cruel and only rare sociopaths can participate in atrocities without suffering lasting emotional harm as psychiatrist Robert Lifton noted.

The rhetoric: The media in Sudan is all about representing one opinion and one voice. A Cold War era propaganda machine, not really concerned about objectivity or neutrality, or finding the truth. It is only about serving the ruling political party’s objectives, and dissenting voices are anathema. Since the news was leaked last Thursday it has unleashed its propaganda strategy in its fullest form and everything seems to be at stake:

“We are targeted, our sovereignty has been violated. The president is a symbol of the country and this is a conspiracy against Sudan. This is similar to what happened in Iraq. Our judicial system is fair and just and this is a political and not a legal accusation. This has never happened before. This happens to us because we believe in Islam. Because they know the National Congress Party (NCP) is going to win the election. Because of our successes and economic progress.”


The International Criminal Court – press releases
ICC Prosecutor presents case against Sudanese President, Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir, for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur – 07/14/08
Note: article with downloads of the summary of the case and the prosecutor’s statement are available in Arabic, English, and French languages
Office of the Prosecutor – bio of Luis Moreno-Ocampo


The New York Times and the NY Times blog ‘On the Ground’
Prosecuting Genocide by Nicholas Kristof – 07/17/08
Your comments on my Darfur column of July 17th
China, Muslims, and the Genocide by Nicholas Kristof – 07/14/08

Memo from Africa: The Pursuit of Justice vs. the Pursuit of Peace by Lydia Polgreen and Marlise Simons – 07/11/08
Arrest is Sought of Sudan Leader in Genocide Case by Lydia Polgreen, Malise Simons, and Jeffrey Gettleman – 07/15/08

International Herald Tribune
Letter from China: Hands-off foreign policy a collapse of creativity by Howard French – 07/17/08
Note: veteran New York Times foreign correspondent for Africa and Asia Howard French comments on Beijing’s flawed policies toward despotic African states

The Economist
The International Criminal Court: Justice or expediency in Sudan? – 07/17/08
Political Immunity: Pulling back the blanket of immunity – 07/10/08

Jurist – Paper Chase (University of Pittsburgh School of Law)
ICC Prosecutor applies for warrant to arrest Sudan president – 07/14/08
Indicting Sudan’s President for War Crimes: Could George Bush be Next? – 07/15/08
The US and the International Criminal Court: Then and Now by David Scheffer - 07/16/08
Note: David Scheffer is a former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues and a professor at Northwestern University School of Law


The role of China and Russia in the Darfur crisis AND the bloody twenty year long civil war that ravaged southern Sudan is no state secret. As a result of their staunch economic, military, and diplomatic support for the Khartoum regime the governments of China and Russia have come into even sharper focus this month. On the heals of the ICC Prosecutor’s charges against President Omar al-Bashir the million dollar question at the United Nations Security Council over the next weeks will be: “What will China and Russia do if the ICC indictment and warrant for arrest gets kicked back to us?”

World Defense Review – Strategic Interests by Dr. J. Peter Pham
Sudan: The Beginning of the End – 07/15/08
Khartoum’s Partners in Beijing – 01/31/08
Note: Dr. Pham is a noted conservative Asian-American scholar on defense and strategic policy affairs. He is the Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University.

BBC News and the BBC One Panorama
China’s Secret War (Panorama) with host Hilary Andersson – 07/15/08
China is ‘fueling war in Darfur’ by Hilary Andersson – 07/13/08
China rejects BBC Darfur claims – 07/15/08
Note: It’s great to see the veteran foreign correspondent Hilary Andersson back at the BBC after such a long absence. She’s one of the best investigative journalists to ever set foot on African soil. She has unfortunately NOT been invited to cover the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing next month. The reason: “She’s a dirty liar!” according to the Chinese Special Envoy for Darfur. Xhinua News Agency

Voice of America News (VOA)
Former Charles Taylor Prosecutor Praises ICC Action against Sudanese President by Joe De Capua – 07/14/08
Note: download the MP3 audio file of the interview with former Chief Prosecutor David M. Crane. Dr. Crane was the founding Chief Prosecutor for the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone and instrumental in bringing former Liberian President Charles Taylor to The Hague. More about Professor Crane can be found in this bio at Syracuse University School of Law and at the Jurist website ‘An Empty Chair at The Hague: Trying Charles Taylor’ (June 8, 2007).

That’s enough for today. I will add more to this post as the plot against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir thickens over the next days and weeks. Look for updates to this post on a regular basis.


Technorati tags:Africa Sudan Darfur genocide war crimes International Law United Nations governanceglobal voices

Laos: A Cry to Heaven in the Land of a Million Elephants - Part 2

‘A Cry to Heaven in the Land of a Million Elephants’ - Part 2
(Note: Read Part 1 of this report series here)

I have to admit that despite all of the news this month about the uprising of the Tibetan people against repressive Chinese rule and all of the talk about boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the story out of Asia that I have been following is the plight of the Lao Hmong families trapped in the highland jungles of northern Laos and the thousands of Hmong refugees holdup in makeshift camps and detention centers in Thailand.

I couldn’t help but thinking as I read article after article about this humanitarian crisis that the threads of life and death for these families are in the hands of a few powerful political leaders in the region. Diligence in trying to get to the bottom of this important story has paid off. I think I can shed new light on why the brutal persecution of the Hmong along with other minority ethnic groups in Laos is taking place today with impunity. In addition to the excellent reporting by investigative journalists who have covered the story for Time Magazine, The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, and most recently at Aljazeera (see Part 1 of this post series) this is what I have been able to turn up with the help of the Internet.

History of the Conflict between the Pathet Lao and the Hmong

The conflict between the Hmong and the LPRP (Lao People’s Revolutionary Party) goes back to the rise of the Pathet Lao in Laos (1961-62), a time when the country was struggling to establish a sovereign government after independence from France and the end of the 1st Indochina War. According to the master’s thesis “The Laos State and Hmong Relationship” by Dengnoi Reineke (Brown University, Department of International Studies, 2005):

Laos continues to be politically unstable. Specifically, it is the domestic situation that has been problematic for Laos’ economic, social and political development. City bombings by insurgent groups at local restaurants, tourist hotels and outside markets continue to serve as legitimate travel warnings against visiting the country issued by the US Embassy.

Although there have been reports of possibly various groups that are involved in these activities, the Hmong group has been the group highly suspected by the Lao government. Most reports and sources cite the Hmong insurgent groups as the main terrorists and speak of their arrests. These bomb threats and other forms of Hmong protests throughout the country’s history have largely been sparked by years of social, economic and political oppression. Presently, displaced by opium eradication programs which are heavily supported by the international community, the Hmong have found themselves aimlessly wandering into the cities of Laos.

Their poverty and presence are prominent in make-shift tin shacks illegally scattered all over on government land. Some of these shacks line along the Lao border with the Mekong River and obstruct views to Thailand, where thousands more Hmong expatriates from the Vietnam era and their families wait in exile for asylum abroad. Illiterate and unskilled, Hmong children and families are forced to take up menial, humiliating or dangerous jobs that pay almost nothing for a full twelve to sixteen hour work-day. Most Hmong are forced to adjust to make ends meet in their new environment that is steadily becoming more modernized.
…………..
Prior to 1975, the Lao government did not have any policies that specifically dealt with ethnic minority groups living in the country, “apart from directing them to resettle in the lowlands in order to adopt a less migratory mode of production” [Stuart-Fox 1982:208]. The state military was used to assist in this and other similar projects. The first attempt by the Pathet Lao to address Hmong displacement caused by the Vietnam War was in the 1976 Repatriation Act. So, far 1996 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that about 30,000 Hmong refugees have been returned to Laos. In 1976, those who repatriated lived under strict government control, protecting them from outside enemy infiltration, “heavy agricultural taxation, and official control on family livestock” [Stuart-Fox 1982: 209]. During this time the Hmong remained in isolation though and access to medical supplies and education were non-existent under this program.
……………
The resettled Hmong under this new regime were put through political indoctrination re-education programs and labor collectivization or “work cooperatives” were imposed upon them. Most resettled Hmong at the time were given official authority to cultivate opium, an economic sector which the Pathet Lao came to be one of the leading [suppliers] in the world market [Stuart-Fox 1982: 210].
…………….
Because of the Hmong’s involvement in the Vietnam War, in which they fought alongside the United States against the Pathet Lao and Viet Minh soldiers, many Hmong fear for their lives. It has been suspected that the Pathet Lao has systemically persecuted and killed Hmong repatriates. It is also believed that the Pathet Lao, as a “pre-emptive” act, has also killed those Hmong suspected of possible insurgent activities, but these suspicions are not grounded on any evidence.

Many Hmong settled in the United States have been lobbying Congress, since late 1970s, to focus its attention on the Hmong people’s situation in Laos and violations of Hmong human rights. In 2005, one hundred Hmong-Americans living in Wisconsin “lobbied Congress…to draw attention to alleged human rights violations against ethnic Hmong.” The Hmong Americans have urged the United States to grant Hmong refugees asylum for their bravery in the war [Tumulty 2005]. Many Hmong, and many United States government officials, believe that the United States owes them this asylum.

Most of the Hmong refugees have lived in refugee camps since the mid 1970s. Since the year 2000 the Thai government and U.S. agencies have been forced to push the Hmong refugees back into Laos by gunpoint. The Hmong refuse to return, fearful of losing their lives to the Pathet Lao because of their allegiance to the American forces during the Vietnam War. According to medical and military [experts], these fears are not unfounded for these “experts claim that the ruling government of Laos has used Russian-made biochemical weapons against the Hmong…they are being forced to return to a nation that considers them less than human—to a fate of almost certain extermination” [LoBaido, 2000].

END excerpts___
Download the paper at The Watson Institute of International Studies
www.watsoninstitute.org/ds/thesis/Dengnoi_Reineke_NEW_THESIS.pdf

A March 2007 press release for a new report by Amnesty International titled “Hiding in the Jungle: Hmong under Threat” stated the following:

Thousands of men, women and children from the Hmong ethnic minority are living on the run from the military in Laos' mountainous jungle, according to a new report from Amnesty International. The Lao army continues to mount violent attacks on them, even though the jungle-dwellers' military capacity is all but depleted decades after some Hmong fought in the CIA-funded "Secret Army" in Laos during the Viet Nam war.The groups frequently move camp to evade the Lao military, who have attacked them with AK-47s and grenades both inside their camps and outside when they search for food. Large numbers of Hmong, including children, have scars and wounds from bullets and shrapnel. Fighting starvation, the groups spend 12-18 hours a day foraging for roots and husks. Children display the distended bellies and bleached hair of malnutrition. They have no access to healthcare, leaving the people open to diseases and infection from untreated wounds."The Hmong groups living in the jungle are destitute -- the Lao authorities have a responsibility to protect them, not least because of the children involved. Instead, their regular attacks mean the groups live in perpetual danger of their lives," said Natalie Hill, Deputy Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International.
………………………….
Despite numerous reports of killings and attacks by Lao security forces, Amnesty International is aware of only two cases that have been 'investigated' by the authorities -- and in both instances the authorities concluded the information about the attacks was fabricated and issued blanket denials. In one of the incidents, in April 2006, 17 children were among the 26 people who had been killed while foraging for food. Survivors said around 15-20 soldiers from the Lao People's Army had ambushed them with rocket-propelled grenades.One young woman named "Pakou" described how her family was captured in the jungle when she was 18. She was taken alone to a police post where she was locked in a room for a year with two other Hmong women. They were repeatedly gang-raped by the police and made to do housework. After a year "Pakou" managed to escape, traumatised, across the border to Thailand.
…………………………
The Lao authorities refuse to allow human rights organisations unfettered access to areas of concern and only limited information is available about the fate of those Hmong who are deported back from Thailand or who choose to come down from the jungles to try to integrate into Lao society.In December 2006, 420 people emerged from the jungle in the north-eastern province of Xieng Khouang, apparently seeking to join mainstream society. Some 370 people had similarly left the jungle near the northern tourist town of Vang Vieng two months earlier. Nothing has been heard from either group since and Amnesty International is concerned for their safety."The Lao authorities must help any Hmong who want to move out of the jungle to reintegrate with mainstream society -- and they must allow UN bodies to monitor this process," said Natalie Hill.

END excerpts___
Read the full report Hiding in the Jungle: Hmong under Threat at the Amnesty International website.

Shifting Alliances Amid Economic Opportunity in Southeast Asia

Laos is a country that is “opening up to the world” after decades of rule by a secretive, repressive communist regime. Report after report tell of the progress made by the Lao government in recent years on economic reforms, attracting foreign investment and development aid, allowing more private ownership of small business, eradication of the opium trade, and increasing exports to the country’s neighbors Vietnam, Thailand, and China.

Tourism alone in Laos over the past 10 years has been increasing by as much as 30% per annum (1990 = 14,000 tourists, 2005 = 1.1 million tourists) bringing in much needed foreign currency revenue from US, European, and Asian visitors. Do an online search for “Laos” in any of the major search engines and you will come up with a zillion links to tourism and travel sites.

As reported by the International Rivers foundation, Laos has more than 70 planned hydropower dam projects, ten of which have been completed or are in various stages of construction. These hydroelectric projects are being financed by governments, private investors, and international banks. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and companies and investors from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Norway, and Belgium are all in on the lucrative hydropower boom in Laos. This harnessing of the Laos’ abundant river power is helping the country to become a net exporter of electric power to its ASEAN neighbors such as Thailand. But that’s not all. Road infrastructure projects, timber, and mining are also in a boom stage in the Lao PDR.

Laos on Monday inaugurated the opening of an important new 2-lane paved highway partially financed by the Chinese government. This new road which was once part of the old opium smuggling route is an important trade and travel link in the 1800 Km long “north-south economic corridor” linking Kunming, China to Bangkok, Thailand. Thomas Fuller writing for the International Herald Tribune describes the new highway in his report of March 30th:

A highway that binds China and its neighbors

Luang Namtha, Laos: The newly refurbished Route 3 that cuts through this remote town is an ordinary strip of pavement, the type of two-lane road you might find winding through the backwoods of Vermont or sunflower fields in the French provinces.

On Leusa, 70, who lives near the road, calls it "deluxe." As a young woman, she traded opium and tiger bones along the road, which was then nothing more than a horse trail.

On Monday, the prime ministers of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will officially inaugurate the former opium smuggling route as the final link of what they call the "north-south economic corridor," a network of roads linking the southern Chinese city of Kunming to Bangkok spanning 1,800 kilometers, or 1,100 miles.

The network, several sections of which were still unpaved as late as December, is a major milestone for China and its southern neighbors. The low-lying mountains here, the foothills of the Himalayas, served for centuries as a natural defensive boundary between Southeast Asian civilizations and the giant empire to the north. The road rarely follows a straight line as it meanders through terraced rice fields and tea plantations.

Today, those same Southeast Asian civilizations alternatively crave closer integration with that empire and fear its sway as an emerging economic giant. China, in turn, covets the land, markets and natural resources of one of Asia's least developed and most pristine regions.

END excerpts___

These are all good signs for the people of Laos. Who in their right mind would complain about economic and infrastructure improvements in this dirt poor country? Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was recently in the Lao capital Vientiane along with the PM’s of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar (Burma) attending the 3rd GMS Summit (Greater Mekong Sub-region). The Greater Mekong sub-region is a huge underdeveloped market made up of the six countries that share the Mekong River, a consumer market representing roughly 320 million people.

So there you have it. The Mekong River countries are in a period of potentially strong economic growth after decades of stagnation and political turmoil and war. The landlocked country of Laos (the Lao PDR) sits right at the center of the region’s surface transportation improvement program. In addition, Laos is abundant in natural resources such as timber, minerals, and a thousand rivers that can be harnessed for hydroelectric power generation. The country’s population is low (approx. 6.2 million people) in comparison to its size (roughly the size of the UK), and the Lao regime can pretty well do as it damn pleases without any pressure from its citizens, its ASEAN neighbors, or the international community. This is an (almost) perfect setup for maximum exploitation of life and limb if you ask me. The Hmong crisis is as about as worrisome as a tick on water buffalo’s rear-end for the regime in Vientiane. Or is it?

END Part 2____
Part 3 of “Laos: A Cry to Heaven in the Land of a Million Elephants” coming soon


Related articles and additional resources

Xinhaua News - Chinaview (People’s Republic of China)
3rd GMS Summit at Vientiane, Laos – March 30-31, 2008
Fact Sheet: Asian Development Bank and the Lao PDR
GMS Flagship Programs: North-South Economic Corridor (ADB)
Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS)

Gov.cn (official website of the People’s Republic of China)
Report on China’s Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion Cooperation

U.S. Embassy in Vientiane, Laos
Ambassador’s press release on Normal Trade Relations, 12/15/04

Radio Free Asia (RFA)
U.S. Normalizes Trade Relations with Laos Amid Controversy, 12/10/04

Amnesty International – Asia Pacific - Laos
Laos: Destitute jungle dwellers living on the run from military, 03/23/07
AI Full Report: Hiding in the Jungle: Hmong under Threat, 03/27/08
Laos: Military atrocities against Hmong children are war crimes, 09/13/04

Doctors without Borders (MSF)
Fearing a Forced Return: Lao Hmong refugees in Northern Thailand, 10/01/07
MSF Field News: Laos

International Herald Tribune
A highway that binds China and its neighbors by Thomas Fuller, 03/30/08
Video report: Coming around the mountain by Thomas Fuller, 03/30/08
A desperate life for survivors of the Secret War in Laos by Thomas Fuller, 12/17/07
Note: see interviews with Hmong war veteran Xang Yang and video and photo essays

New Mandala blog – new perspectives on mainland Southeast Asia
Elephants, forests, and power – 03/20/08
The Lao resettlement controversy, 12/03/07
Internal resettlement in Laos – a response, 12/14/07
More on the Chinese in northern Laos, 10/07/07
The Nam Tha dam project in Laos, 09/30/07
Vang Pao aftermath on the upper Mekong, 09/28/07
Stranger than fiction? (arrest in U.S. of Hmong leader General Vang Pao) – 06/05/07
New Mandala Tags: Focus on Laos

Imaging Our Mekong - Mekong Currents – a monthly column about the people living in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Creating a Mekong Community by Rosalia Sciortino - Jan 2005 issue

International Rivers – protecting rivers and the people who depend upon them
Laos hydroelectric dam projects

BBC News
Vietnam ‘hub for illegal timber’, 03/19/08
(Environmental groups report on growing illegal timber trade with Laos)
Borderlines report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

Heritage Foundation (a conservative U.S. think tank)
Enabling ASEAN’s Economic Vision, 01/29/08
2008 Index of Economic Freedom: Laos
Advancing Freedom in Burma, 01/15/08
China and ASEAN: Endangered American Primacy in Southeast Asia, 10/19/05

The Boston Globe
Guerillas in Our Midst, 06/10/07
(article about the arrest of the famed Hmong General Vang Pao)

Laos Cultural Profile website - Introduction to Laos
(A portal providing detailed information about Laos. Created with support from the Rockefeller Foundation)

Wikipedia
History of Laos since 1945

Technorati tags:Southeast Asia Asia Laos Thailand Vietnam USA China Burma globalization business natural resources corruption veterans war politics foreign affairs human rights refugees Global Voices

Laos: A Cry to Heaven in the Land of a Million Elephants

Mee Moua Vang, with family in front of their makeshift home, near Vang Vieng, Laos. Her message to the world, "My husband and two older daughters were killed by the communists while foraging for food. My daughter Blee was attacked by the communists where her guts were sticking out and I was unable to help her so she died. I miss her very much. I am desperately suffering here with no help. I ask you to come in and save us. Bring us food."
Photo by Roger Aronold, WPN - June 28, 2006

“Often we do not realize the consequences of our actions until it is too late.”

Laos: a beautiful mountainous country rich in biodiversity located deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Once so famous for its countless herds of elephants that it was called ‘Prathet Lane Xane’ (the Land of a Million Elephants). Home to the Lao, Yao (Mien), Khammu (Khmu), and Hmong: ethnic groups and tribes with histories rich in traditions and culture and struggles for survival that go back millennia.

Laos is also the tiny dirt-poor country that suffered the tragedies and atrocities of modern-day warfare during the 20th Century unlike any other land, except for its neighbor Vietnam. Civil wars, invasions, the opium trade, and a landscape littered with millions of tons of UXO (unexploded ordnance) 35 years after the end of the Vietnam and Laos wars.

“The United States military dropped more than 2.5 million tons of ordnance on Laos during the Vietnam War, more than the total used against Germany and Japan in World War II. An estimated 10 million unexploded submunitions or “bomblets” remain scattered across the country, killing approximately 200 Laotians per year. Since 1973, 5,700 Laotians have been killed and 5,600 injured by unexploded ordnance.”

Source: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
‘Laos: Background and U.S. Relations’ by Thomas Lum, November 22, 2004.
Download (PDF) http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/39907.pdf

The country is ruled by the Pathet Lao, the Communist military regime who defeated the Royal Lao Government established after the end of French colonization. Laos endured a fiercely fought civil war from 1962-1975, where military forces and intelligence agencies from many countries including North and South Vietnam, the U.S.A., and Thailand were involved in what is commonly referred to by military historians as the CIA’s Secret War.

But this post is not about a war from more than three decades ago; instead it is about the plight of several small groups of people still hiding in those inhospitable mountain jungles of Laos for the past 33 years who are at the verge of extinction. These desperate and hopeless people are mainly from the Hmong hill tribes, some of which were former fighters and soldiers in the Laotian civil war more than 30 years ago, and food and shelter and time is running out fast for them and their families. These people are being hunted down like animals by government soldiers, the Pathet Lao forces with the assistance of the Vietnamese military, and this is their story.
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Latest News Update on the Hmong hill people from Al Jazeera Network

While viewing news programs this past weekend I came across a report on Al Jazeera English network about the “Lost Tribes: Secret Army of the CIA”. The award-winning British journalist Tony Birtley and his cameraman traveled to Laos to meet secretly with Hmong who had been living deep in the Laotian jungles, constantly on the run and fleeing for their lives since the end of the Vietnam and Laos’ wars.

The half hour video report shows Birtley arriving in a mountain village filled mainly with women and children, joined by old men and boys shouldering outdated M-16’s and AK-47’s. Almost all of the villagers are in rags and some of the children are naked, many people suffering from gunshot and shrapnel wounds, some with poorly treated injuries from landmines and mortars, no medicines, their eyes and bellies showing the tell-tale signs of severe malnutrition and near starvation. Their eyes showed something else: naked fear and terror and an almost total resignation that death was near, very near.

It took me a while to understand what I was watching, and then it struck me that these were the legendary fierce jungle fighters of the Vietnam War era, the Hmong. Some of the older men in the report had fought alongside American Special Forces in a CIA-supervised not-so-secret conflict in Laos from 1961-1973. I had thought for years that these fighters were long dead, killed in combat and/or murdered during imprisonment and “re-education” by victorious Pathet Lao and Vietnamese forces more than 30 years ago. But there they were, alive, and with their wives and children and grandchildren all hiding in the jungle___ destitute, starving, afraid, and hunted like animals to this very day. I was devastated as I watched them beg for help, for mercy, for a way out of their never-ending nightmare___ crying and wailing at the feet of a British journalist, calling him “Father” as if he were some god come to save them. Their tears and wailing was heart-wrenching to hear and watch. These were human beings making a desperate cry to Heaven for mercy and for help.

Their story is complex and it is long, so I have provided below an excerpt from reporter Tony Birtley’s journal kept during his sojourn to the jungles of Laos, including the links to the 3-part video report at Al Jazeera’s YouTube.com channel. I have also included at the end of this post a long list of additional news articles and resources about Laos and the Hmong people.

I must break this article (blog post) down into 2-3 parts, so please read the article(s) and view the video reports while I work on the 2nd part of this story.
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Village leader, Bila Shoua Her (center), holding an old American M-79 grendade launcher and surrounded by former Hmong fighters from the CIA's Secret Army,near Vang Vieng, Laos. Most of the men are from the surrounding CIA Lima Sites 363, 319, 90, and 74. The CIA established remote jungle landing strips in Laos called Lima Sites to provide aerial supply to their Secret Army. Ironically the Loa communist government now uses Lima Site 363 to supply its troops and to attack Bila Shoua Her and his men.
Photo by Roger Arnold, WPN - July 03, 2006

Tony Birtley’s field report Laos ‘Lost Tribes’ in Plea for Help' at Aljazeera.net:
March 13, 2008

The dead of night - a rendezvous on a dirt road on the fringe of a dense jungle.

I couldn't see the faces of my guides, but I could see their guns and I could feel the apprehension as they ushered me into the undergrowth and the start of what would turn out to be an unforgettable journey.

There were six of them, all ethnic Hmong; a rugged, tough people used to harsh conditions. But a people, I was soon to discover, living in fear.

We hurried into the forest - not easy in the dark - down a steep slope, across a narrow bamboo bridge over a fast-flowing river, and then upwards.

When we talked it was in a whisper; when we walked we tried not to create noise. And we tried to avoid the danger, which they told me was all around.

The danger comes from the Laos army. They are everywhere, the guides told me and ambushes are common.

In the dark, with the occasional use of a torch, we weaved our way through the undergrowth.

The darkness creates fear and apprehension but it is also strangely comforting: if you cannot see the soldiers, then it is equally hard for them to see you.

The first five hours was straight up, no deviations, and no track. Sometimes clambering for something to hold and pull myself up, other times it was all I could do to stop from falling backwards.

No such exhaustion for the Hmong; this kind of hike was normal in this hilly highland terrain of northern Laos.

Five hours and numerous stops later we reached the peak of the hill and a chance to sleep for a few hours.

We walked for another two hours beneath the dense jungle canopy, then stopped for food.

The "food" was a plant root similar to a yam, tasting like dried potato and something I came to dread in the coming days.

After two days we reached our destination, Zu, meaning village in Hmong. Not so much a village, more a gathering of bamboo shacks. But the sight which greeted me could only have come from a Hollywood movie script.

Men, women and children were on their knees, hands together as in prayer. And there were tears, floods of tears.

I was the first outsider, the first Westerner, and the first foreigner they had seen in 32 years. For some it was the first time ever. Some of the weeping men cradled guns and had grenades on their belts.

I didn't realise it then but my visit had taken on a significance I was not prepared for.

A Hmong man with a video camera filmed me. A woman dressed in traditional colourful Hmong clothes paused her sobbing and looked at me.

"Oh father, we are just widows. Our husbands, wives and children are lost. We are poverty stricken, please help us. We have no one to guide us," she said.

Everyone was shouting out. Four young men were performing a welcome dance. A young fighter, grenade launcher on his back, grenades around his waste, played an out of tune guitar.

It was hard to grasp how desperate these people were, hard to understand the drama of the welcome, the depth of their hopelessness.

This would all become clearer in the coming days – more days than I intended to stay.

The group's tears and groans continued. I felt uncomfortable putting my camera close to them to record their desperation, but realised that the world had to see this - it was the whole point of making such a journey.

End excerpt___ Read more of Laos ‘Lost Tribe’ in Plea for Help at Al Jazeera – English website.

End Part 1 ‘A Cry to Heaven in the Land of a Million Elephants’ - Part 2 coming soon.

Related articles and additional resources

Al Jazeera News Network – English
Laos ‘Lost Tribe’ in Plea for Help, 03/13/08
The Lost Tribes of Laos, 03/07/08
Laos denies Hmong persecution, 03/14/08
Out of the Jungle, 03/07/08

The Lost Tribe – Secret Army of the CIA by Tony Birtley, 03/10/08
The Lost Tribe program video @ YouTube.com: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Al Jazeera News – 101 East program
Hmong Tribes, 09/13/07
Host Veronica Pedrosa interviews representatives from the Hmong International Human Rights Watch, UNHCR, and the Government of Thailand.
Hmong Tribes program video @ YouTube.com: Part 1, Part 2

International Herald Tribune
A desperate life for survivors of the Secret War in Laos by Thomas Fuller, 12/17/07
Note: see interviews with Hmong war veteran Xang Yang and video and photo essays by Thomas Fuller

New York Times
Old U.S. Allies, Still Hiding in Laos by Thomas Fuller, 12/17/07
Note: same feature article as appears in the International Herald Tribune
Arrest Uncovers Divide in Hmong-Americans by Monica Davey, 06/14/07
Note: article about the arrest of war veteran General Vang Pao for conspiracy to purchase arms for the overthrow of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
New York Times – Topics - Laos

The Digital Journalist magazine - Dispatches
Laos: Still a Secret War by Roger Arnold, October 2006
Still a Secret War Part 2 by Roger Arnold, August 2007
Still a Secret War video @ YouTube – narrated by Roger Arnold for WPN

RogerArnold.net – personal website of the photojournalist Roger Arnold
Photo essay gallery – CIA Secret Army
Also see related articles and resources about the Hmong people of Laos

Rebecca Sommer – documentary filmmaker and activist
RebeccaSommer.org – website for Hmong news, documentary films, and reports
‘Hunted Like Animals’, a groundbreaking documentary film by Rebecca Sommer about the persecution of Hmong and Lao tribes in the jungles of Laos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzqSQSfdlmw&feature=related for the Amnesty International Film Festival

TIME.com/TIME Asia (TIME magazine online)
Welcome to the Jungle by Andrew Perrin, 04/28/03
Welcome to the Jungle photo essay
The Hmong Road Home, 08/24/07
The Last Battle of Vietnam, 03/02/07
(The aftermath of Agent Orange and dioxin poisoning in Vietnam)

ABC News
Hmong Refugees Fear Returning to Laos, 05/20/07
In Laos, Prized Elephants are in Decline, 03/16/08
Chinese Influx Stirs Age-Old Hatred in Myanmar, 03/12/08

The Washington Post
Hmong Refugees Fear Returning to Laos, 05/20/07

Frontpage Magazine
The Two Faces of Communist Laos by Michael Benge, 02/28/08

IPS – Inter Press Service news agency
Thailand/Laos: Hmong refugees starve to resist deportation, 08/19/07

Australian National University – Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies
New Madala (blog): Slow rescue from Laos’ lethal harvest, 11/30/07
Note: this article reviews the highly-acclaimed documentary film ‘Bomb Harvest’

The Nation (Bangkok)
Concern over rough treatment of Hmong refugees, 12/06/06
(Thai newspaper reports on harsh treatment of Hmong refugees from Laos held in a Thai government Immigration Detention Center)

Civil and human rights groups working on behalf of the Hmong people

Hmong International Human Rights Watch
U.S.-based human rights advocacy group

FactFinding.org – official website of organization dedicated to bringing the plight of veterans of U.S. Secret War in Laos to the attention of the American people and the U.S. Congress

Center for Public Policy Analysis
Thailand, Laos Crisis:
Human Rights Concerns in Laos and Thailand (Congressional hearings in Washington D.C.), 02/11/08
Lao, Hmong Human Rights Forum to Discuss Plight of 8,000 Refugees, 09/28/07

Amesty International
LPDR: Hiding in the Jungle, Hmong Under Threat, 03/27/07
Human Rights Forgotten: The Hmong people, 05/25/04
Interview with documentary filmmaker Ruhi Hamid

Human Rights Watch – News
Thailand: Stop Deportation of Hmong Refugees to Laos, 12/12/06

News, history and culture information about Laos and the Hmong

Wikipedia.org
People of Laos, Hmong, Lao, Khammu (Khmu), Yao (Mien)
Laotian Civil War, Air America

Center for Hmong Studies – Concordia University (St. Paul, MN. USA)

Personal website of Dr. Gary Yia Lee, Hmong Anthropolgist and Historian
Center for Lao Studies (San Francisco, CA. USA)
Refugees from Laos: historical background and causes by Dr. Gary Yia Lee

Hmong Studies Internet Resource Center
Hmong Studies Journal online

Hmongnet.org (Hmong website based in the U.S.A.)

North by North East (an eco-tourism company specializing on Laos)
Laos History in brief
The Hmong: Legend and History Part 1 and Part 2 by J.G. Learned

UCLA International Institute – Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Hmong: An Endangered People by Rashaan Meneses, 07/07/04

IMCA – Project InForm
Hmong in Transition by Sheila Pinkel

Radio Free Asia – English edition
Radio Free Asia blog - Unplugged

New York Times – Topics - Laos

Voice of America News
EU Delegation Visits Hmong Village in Vangvieng District, 03/12/08
Laos’ news and features archive

U.S. Department of State
Country background brief - Laos
Profile for U.S. Ambassador to Laso Ravic R. Huso
U.S. Embassy in Vientiane, Laos – official website
Laos Embassy in Washington D.C. – official website

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
CIA World Factbook - Laos

CIA - Center for the Study of Intelligence Library
Supporting the Secret War: CIA Air Operations in Laos (1955-1974) by Professor William H. Leary (University of Georgia Dept. of History)

Technorati tags:Southeast Asia Asia Laos Thailand Vietnam USA Vietnam War veterans war politics foreign affairs human rights refugees Global Voices

Race and Politics in the Shadow of Davos 2008 - Germany & Switzerland

Last updated: January 28, 2007

I think one of the most difficult challenges facing today’s bloggers, citizen journalists, and new media producers is keeping pace with breaking news events around the globe and sharing that information with our readers in a timely fashion. I often feel a need to apologize to my readers when I have not published to Jewels in more than a fortnight as I try not to exceed a period of more than 14 days between posts. So I am sorry to not have updated Jewels since the beginning of January but hey, this month got off to a beast of a start into the New Year 2008 and we still have a week to go before the month is over.

I’ve decided to try something new at the blog to help remedy this continuity problem. I’m starting an ‘End of the Month Roundup’ of news articles and blog posts that have caught my attention starting with today and working backwards to the 5th of January. I shall begin with a focus on how the German press is covering various international and national news stories, including a heated political campaign in the central German state of Hessen (Hesse) that would put the “race question debate” of the Clinton vs. Obama U.S. presidential campaign to shame. More of my ‘End of the Month Roundup’ posts for January 2008 shall follow over the next couple of days (couple of days = at least a week). I will spare readers my usual lengthy commentary & analysis, suggesting that you dig right into these juicy news stories that follow and enjoy.
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Question: What hot button European issue will most likely not be on the agenda at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 in Davos, Switzerland?

Answer: Germany’s Political Scene in 2008. From alleged racist campaigning in Germany to the collapse of world financial markets to NPD (Germany's neo-Nazi political party) economic woes to bitter struggles with immigration and integration. Spiegel International Online, the English language version of the popular German news magazine Der Spiegel, has it covered.

Spiegel editor David Crossland, an ‘Auslander’ (foreigner) who was born in Bonn, Germany to British parents and has spent most of his professional life as a journalist in Germany describes the following in the opening paragraphs of his excellent op-ed “Germany’s Homegrown Intolerance” published to the site on January 18th:

"Germany is not a country of immigration," Roland Koch said this month as he sought to revive his campaign for a third term as governor of the western state of Hesse by calling for a crackdown on "criminal young foreigners."

The statement, borrowed from former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, is untrue. Some 15 million people, or just under a fifth of the German population, have an immigrant background. The real message is: "We don't want Germany to be a country of immigration."

"Foreigners" -- they're often called that here even if they and their parents were born here -- get that message loud and clear in their everyday lives. That steely look of disapproval in shops when a customer expresses an enquiry in accented or broken German. The difficulty of finding an apartment to rent if your surname isn't Müller.

Just speaking English can get you into trouble on a Berlin S-Bahn train. A number of youths, presumably of far-right persuasion, glared at me during a recent ride through the east of the city. One muttered "piece of shit," while another shouted "nigger!" before rushing out -- and I'm white.

I'd hate to be living here if I had brown or black skin. Statistics on racist assaults prove that parts of eastern Germany are no-go zones for ethnic minorities. (Read more…)

The Spiegel article “German Xenophobia As Our Readers See It” is interesting in that it is one of those rare instances where I have seen a leading German news magazine publish extensive reader feedback on this sensitive subject, in English. Several countries are struggling with these same issues today and Germany is no different albeit political, business, and high-profile public figures here are loathe to admit that it is a very BIG problem for lots of people living and working in the country, foreigners and Germans alike. Here is the comment from an Asian professional working in the southern German State of Bavaria:

Dear Spiegel Online,

I am an Asian scientist working in Munich. I lived in China and Singapore before I moved to Germany. I was offered a pre-doctorate position in Singapore from a private research institution with full pay before I came to Germany. But I still decided to look for a position in Germany, because I wanted to live in Europe. The major motives for such a move were firstly, the freedom of expression that European countries offer; secondly, the superior infrastructure of the German research system; and thirdly, the European values of tolerance and integration.

I was not disappointed at all when it comes to freedom of expression and the infrastructure in Germany. But I was utterly shocked when it comes to integration and tolerance. I never suffered explicit racist attacks like those which happened in eastern Germany. But I was exposed to a subtle yet stubborn kind of racism on a daily basis. This mostly takes the form of social exclusion -- I always felt that I am not and will never be allowed to become a normal member of society, despite holding a promising academic record and decent linguistic skills.

In the beginning, I regarded social rejection as a result of linguistic insufficiency. Therefore I spent a large amount of time improving my German. At the moment my spoken German is close to fluency. But I was completely disappointed about the results of my effort. Instead of feeling more integrated in the society, I actually discovered even more xenophobia around me, because now I understand what is written in newspapers and on street placards. Also, I became aware that people throw me angry looks when I mispronounce German, or give me suspicious looks on the U-Bahn. It is a constant battle on my side to handle such things. I am determined to move to another country once I finish my studies. It is hard to leave such a good working environment behind, but I see no hope for real integration here.

I have spoken with other colleagues of mine, who are either foreigners or have a foreign background. Many of them suffer the same kind of social rejection. There are very few things we can do except opting to leave the country when we finish our training. But it is detrimental to the intellectual progress and economic growth of Germany when even people of higher education fail to integrate into the society.

I am not saying that there should be any kind of favoritism towards intellectual foreigners, or that there should be immediate and absolute equality among Germans and foreigners. What I hope to see is more cultural sensitivity and inter-cultural communication. People should start to understand that foreigners are assets, not threats. And the only ones who can push for cultural sensitivity and exchange on a large scale are the mass media and the government.

-- Name withheld

Here is a comment from Page 8 of the article (there are 9 web pages of readers comments) where a person from India describes her experiences in East Germany (Cottbus and Berlin):

Dear Spiegel Online,

I read Mr. Crossland's opinion piece and I do agree that Germany needs to change its attitude towards foreigners.

I am a student from India currently pursuing my Master's here. I have been living in Germany for two years now -- 11 months in Cottbus, and the rest in Berlin. While it is true that I have met some wonderful human beings in my two years here, it is also true that by and large we, the foreigners, are regarded way too suspiciously.

Fortunately for me, despite my dark skin, I have not faced any pushed-into-a-corner kind of incidents that I keep hearing about. That may be because I take things in my stride, go out of my way not to offend people or simply because I choose to ignore things most of the time. But I experienced a couple of incidents when the ugly face of racism was bared to one and all. And every time I am shocked anew before a helpless rage takes over me, which I need to glaze over with indifference for my own survival here.

Once in Cottbus, during a hip-hop night at a student bar, which of course attracted the black students from our university, someone threw a stink bomb inside the bar forcing all of us to run towards the exit, eyes hurting and throats constricting due to the nauseous gas. While we were waiting outside for the smell to diffuse, a man with his hood up ran up the stairs, screamed "Ausländer raus!" ("Foreigners out!") and ran away before we could react.

And the other time, a club in Prenzalauer Berg, the happening district of Berlin, denied us entrance because there were three black people amongst us (well, four if you count me). We were just told that they have the right to deny anyone they want and that the club was filled to its capacity. The funny part is they did not even try to wait for us to get out of sight before they let others in.

It would be easy to handle if it is only a certain bunch of people -- say the neo-Nazis -- out to get you. What makes it difficult is the fact that the average people that you meet have so many prejudices against you that everything you do, even before you do it, is written on the debit side of the balance sheet. If my friend, who is white, crosses a street when the light is red, she is in a hurry. And if I do the same, someone is waiting to say "schwarze Schlampe" ("black slut") or something similar.

And you would think that in a university, things might be different. But oh no! It gets worse there. You have to start battling prejudices from the word go. If you come here from the developing world, you are here to squander the precious resources of Germany, while all along you want to stay on in the country by hook or crook.

Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to say I have nothing but bad experiences in Germany. I have had times when the unexpected generosity and helpfulness of strangers reduced me almost to tears. To be fair, perhaps, things are not so different anywhere else.

I came here with an open mind and I see what I see. Tomorrow I will leave because I can afford to. But I see around me a lot of people who will hang on, despite racism, despite prejudices, despite everything. And if something is not done right now, I am afraid it may be too late. History already showed us what could happen if we let malcontent grow.

-- Name withheld -- Read more at Spiegel Online (International edition).

Update Jan 27th: The proverbial poop has hit the fan over at Der Spiegel (Spiegel Online) re: David Crossland's article and the red hot reader feedback. Checkout the January 25th update article "More Readers Weigh-In: How Xenophobic is Germany?"

Update Jan 28th: The elections for the German states of Hessen (Hesse) and Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) were completed yesterday and the race for Ministerpräsident (Governor) of the State of Hesse ended in a literal dead heat. The strategy of using of the "racial/ethnic card" in the campaign by Hessen's two-term serving governor Roland Koch has blown-up in his face and will most likely (hopefully) cost him the election.

Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lost more than 12% of the votes garnered in the 2003 state elections allowing the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to pull within 0.1%. Neither party has an absolute majority and a coalition with their traditional political partners (the liberals - FDP, The Greens - Die Grünen) is not enough to give either party a clear victory. Hessen, the financial capital of Deutschland (think Frankfurt and Wiesbaden), is in political chaos AND German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Grand Coalition government over in Berlin is beginning to wobble badly. Read more about the post-election coverage at Spiegel Online:

Blow for Merkel: Kock Slumps in Hesse Vote as Immigration Campaign Backfires, 01/28/08
The World from Berlin: Koch Gets Face Slapped for 'Nasty' Campaign, 10/28/08
Angela Merkel 'Stands by Her Man' in Hessen: Merkel Defends Battered Koch, 10/28/08

Here is an excerpt from an opinion piece titled "The End of Fear and Loathing in Hesse" by Charles Hawley:

When two young men with foreign heritage (foreign = Greek and Turkish) beat up a German man in a Munich subway just before Christmas, he jumped on it. He immediately said that Germany has "too many criminal young foreigners." He also said that Germany is "not a country of immigration" -- even though his party had just split with its past denial and included the sentence "Germany is a country of integration" in its platform at the beginning of December. Koch also suggested that foreigners learn that "the slaughtering (of animals) in the kitchen ... runs counter to our principles."

It was a classic CDU campaign, only the most recent in a long history of such over-the-top, anti-foreigner campaigns the party has used in the past to draw attention and votes. Helmut Kohl did it during his very first campaign for chancellor back in 1982, promising to offer generous incentives to encourage foreigners -- many of them imported in previous decades to work in Germany's booming factories -- to go home. Koch's 1999 signature campaign was followed soon after with a debate on "Leitkultur" or "leading culture." Many of the CDU contributions to that debate made it clear that foreigners were at best to be tolerated in Germany, but certainly not to be welcomed.

Read the complete editorial "The End of Fear and Loathing in Hesse" at Spiegle Online.

Blog author's note: italics, parenthesis, and bold emphasis added to some original text in article excerpts quoted above

Related articles and resources for German politics

Critique Against Racist Campaign: German Immigrants have had Enough 01/10/08
Xenophobic Campaign Backfires: Voters Shunning Roland Koch, 01/18/08
Internal NPD Documents Reveal Chaos: Germany’s Right Wing Extremists in Disarray, 01/24/08
Opinion: Germany’s Homegrown Intolerance by David Crossland, 01/18/08
As Welcome As Satan in Heaven: German Xenophobia As Our Readers See It, 01/22/08

Spiegel Online category – German Politics
Spiegel TV Online (German language only)


Switzerland’s Political Scene: Some of my more astute readers may remember that the country of Switzerland had a similar political campaign in October 2007 that was fueled by racial, ethnic, and immigration fear-mongering. With all the attention focused on the World Economic Forum 2008 in Davos, Switzerland one has to wonder if the rising tide of racism and xenophobia in Europe will be discussed. I doubt it. Below are listed a few press articles about Switzerland’s ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ national elections.

Update January 25th:

Koluki (Ana) who authored the essay in my Dec 2007 post about the EU/Africa Summit in Lisbon has drawn my attention to a very important development in the Swiss national elections of 2007 that I had obviously missed.

Ricardo Lumengo, an Angolan immigrant who entered Switzerland as an asylum seeker in 1982, is the first ever black African to be elected to the Swiss Parliament (Swiss National Council). Lumengo, who studied law at the University of Fribourg and is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP), is the MP representing the town of Biel near the Swiss capital city of Bern.

After a crushing defeat of the Social Democratic Party in the October 2007 elections by the right-wing nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), Mr. Lumengo had this to say to the Sunday Times Online (UK) shortly after his victory:

“There is tension in the air says first black MP as Swiss take a turn to the right”(Excerpts)

“We do not like it that people abroad see us as against foreigners. I am proof that not all of Switzerland thinks like that,” said Mr Lumengo, who trained as a lawyer in Switzerland and completed the tests for his Swiss passport in 1997.

Despite a disastrous showing by his left-wing party, which lost 9 of its 43 seats, Mr Lumengo became an MP for Biel, a bilingual town also known as Bienne, near the capital, Berne. He said: “I have had a good experience in Switzerland for 25 years but the situation has changed and I feel I would have difficulties if I came now. There is a tension, a conflict now between foreigners and Swiss. Other politicians are talking irresponsibly by suggesting that foreigners are responsible for all the country’s problems. We, the Socialists, are worried that this is the wrong direction for the country.”

Mr Lumengo said he hoped that his election as an MP would be “a symbol showing many things”, including that Switzerland was not a racist country. “There are people who are building another Switzerland, a Switzerland of tolerance and a Switzerland of dialogue,” he said.

The Times Online reports after speaking with the right-wing Swiss Peoples Party President Ueli Maurer:

But Ueli Maurer, the SVP president, said that its increased support gave the party approval to rule out talks on joining or even cooperating further with the European Union. “The idea of EU accession should at last get out of everyone’s heads,” Mr Maurer said. The first casualty is likely to be an attempt by the EU to persuade Switzerland to raise its favourably low corporation tax levels. An SVP spokesman said: “We think that the election was confirmation that the Swiss people do not want to join the EU.”

Read the full article of October 23rd at the Times Online. The Times article is in stark contrast to the post “Do the election results show the Swiss have become racist?” published at Pajamas Media last October. The article was written by Robert Mayer of the popular political blog Publius Pundit.

The list below has been updated to include articles and blog posts about Ricardo Lumengo including a link to his personal website (French, German), video interview by the Swiss TV network SF1 and an interview published to Swissinfo.ch

Ricardo Lumengo is a young, promising African-European politician who will be working hard to make positive changes in a country that seems to be desperately clinging on to its “traditional ways” in an evolving and expanding Europe. He will be the “Black Sheep” to watch south of the German/Swiss border. We can only hope that Berlin will be paying close attention too.


Related articles and resources for Swiss politics

The Independent (UK)
Switzerland: Europe’s Heart of Darkness? 09/07/07

The New York Times
Immigration, Black Sheep, and Swiss Rage – 10/08/07

The Times Online (UK)
‘Black sheep’ cartoon ignites bitter row on racism before Swiss elections, 10/10/07

TIME.com
Postcard from Pomy – Bye-Bye Black Sheep, 09/21/07

The Economist – Certain Ideas of Europe blog
The black sheep of Swiss politics, 09/03/07

Swissinfo.ch (Switzerland)
Swiss People’s Party is accused of racist campaign, 08/30/07

Spiegel Online International edition (Germany)
White Sheep, Black Sheep: Bringing rancor to a Swiss Election, 10/17/07

Related articles and resources about Swiss MP Ricardo Lumengo

Swiss MP Ricardo Lumengo’s personal website (French, German)

Bio for Ricardo Lumengo at the Swiss Federal Assembly (Parliament)

The Times Online (UK)
“There is tension in the air says first black MP as Swiss take a turn to the right”, 10/23/07

Reuters Africa
Former refugee becomes first black Swiss MP, 12/03/07

SF1 (Swiss TV network) – Archive Sendung von 22.19.2007
Von Angola ins Bundeshaus (see video report at bottom of webpage)

Swissinfo.ch
“Black Sheep” in Swiss parliament (streaming media Real), 11/12/07

Africa Link Switzerland – Dec 2007 newsletter
Ricardo Lumengo makes history from Asylum House to House of Assembly

Koluki
First Black Citizen Elected to Swiss Parliament is Angolan, 10/24/07

Swiss Reviews
Swiss Voters Elected “Black Sheep”, 10/28/07

Pajamas Media – guest post by Robert Mayer
“Do the election results show the Swiss have become racist?”, 10/22/07

Wikipedia
Politics of Switzerland

Technorati tags:Europe Germany Roland Koch Switzerland Davos World Economic Forum politics elections racism xenophobia immigration immigrants integration global voices